2015 Talks and Spoken Word

Here are examples of the variety of the speakers that we had for our BlakeFest 2015 Literary Event.

2016 Talks and Spoken Word

Here are a selection of photographs capturing our Poetry event at the SeaFish venue as part of BlakeFest 2016.

2017 BlakeFest Poetry

At BlakeFest's 2017 event we had a selection of performance poets who entertained and enlightened our audience, showing how relevant this form of communication still is. Poets included Glastonbury mainstay Atilla The Stockbroker, punk poet Stephen Micalef and Luke Wright.

2017 Talks and Spoken Word

As part of BlakeFest's Dandelion Visions project, our poet-in-residence Stella Bahin ran a free community poetry workshop at Bognor Regis Library to explore poetry writing and create themed poems for us.

2018 BlakeFest Talks

Here are a selection of photographs taken during the variety of talks and psychogeographical walk that took place during 2018's BlakeFest. Dr Luke Walker, Professor Fiona Price and Niall McDevitt were among the speakers, engaging the audiences with the magic of Blake's work and its impact.

2018 BlakeFest Word

In 2018 we had talks at Blake's Cottage, a street play in Felpham and poetry at our main BlakeFest event at The Regis Centre in Bognor including readings from The South Downs Poets.

2018 Talks and Spoken Word

2019 Open Mic

In the run up to BlakeFest 2019 we hosted an Open Mic poetry event at The Hothampton Arms in Bognor Regis including a performance from Stephen Micalef and hosted by Owain Virgin.

2019 Palestinian Talk @ChiUni

Life Behind The Wall

Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh, Palestinian Christian, from Bethlehem talked about life under Occupation behind the wall. It was a rare opportunity to meet an erudite scholar and prodigious campaigner for peace and justice inspiring hope, empowerment and equal rights for Palestinians. Formally based at Yale University, returned to his village near Bethlehem 12 years ago and set up the Palestine Museum of Natural History at the University of Bethlehem. He is at the forefront of the struggle for truth and civil rights in Bethlehem today.

2019 Talks/Spoken Word

Stephen Micalef Biog

2019 Niall - Visionary Heads

Irish poet Niall McDevitt leads a wandering lecture through Felpham village, following the trail of its legendary resident, the poet and painter William Blake. The focus will be on one of Blake's many unique achievements in Sussex, the series of portraits he was commissioned to do for his patron William Hayley's library. 'Heads of the Poets' features typically idiosyncratic busts of world poets from Homer and Dante to Shakespeare. McDevitt will also highlight tensions in the relationship between Blake and the patron he regularly lambasted in verse.

"When Hayley finds out what you cannot do
That is the very thing he'll set you to."